Just lately its been all about craft fairs and exhibitions, which means making lots of the things that I know sell well, which can make me feel like more of a machine than an artist! But bubbling away in the background I have been working on a series of panels for a customer who has previously brought large exhibition pieces and now wanted something special to her family to give as Christmas presents.

The design brief was to capture their childhood summers in Devon sailing around the coast and walking the coast paths picking blackberries in the late summer with the sea and the cliffs in the background and here are the resulting 3 sizes of panels, the largest will be housed in a bespoke wooden frame tomorrow (the glue is still drying in the local carpenters workshop), the medium panel is edged with sea glass and both have kiln fired painted details. The yellow boat is cut from lovely mouth blown glass as the family boat was very important to their holiday’s. The contours of the cliffs are picked out in swirly cinnamon baroque glass which adds texture and the sea and grass are from water glass which mimics the ripples of water, especially when the sunshines through it and creates shimmery water reflections. The opaque glass used for the sails adds a good contrast to the transparent glass and leads the eye to the centre of the panel. The smallest panel is a simpler version of the big ones with acid etched berries and leaves.

The colours and simplified forms of the design give the panel a retro feel; its wonderful being involved in creating such special Christmas gifts and I am really pleased with the results, I hope they are too!